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Residents in southeastern Etobicoke want to shut down a concrete plant which is operating steps away from people’s homes, a school and a busy GO Train station.

People in Mimico are complaining that they’re choking on concrete dust, enduring industrial noise and that transport trucks clog their streets.

“What we assumed were nice, quite residential streets that were harmonious with industry, it’s now kind of wrecked that image of the work-life balance in our community,” said Kyra Trainor, of the Mimico Residents Association.

Members of her group will hold a community meeting Wednesday night with municipal and provincial officials to discuss a recent application by the company — ML Ready Mix — to obtain an environmental licence needed to continue to operate.

The group hopes that if the application is denied, it will force the company to cease operations.

An environment ministry spokesman could not be reached for comment on the licence application by ML Ready Mix, which is located on Judson Rd. — in the Royal York Rd.-Gardiner Expressway area.

The residents’ association has fired off a letter to the environment ministry and local MPP — Education Minister Laurel Broten — that said the company has been “operating without an environmental licence since 2003,” and shouldn’t be granted one “based on the the lack of air quality for residents and the company’s continued expansion without considering (the) impact on the community.”

Broten responded to the letter in early January, saying “it was discovered that the company didn’t have the required approval for air and noise emissions from the operation,” but that it had submitted the “required documents” to put it on the path to approval.

Trainor hopes that doesn’t happen, as those living around the plant are having to deal with concrete dust up their noses and settling on the surfaces inside and outside their homes.

Cement trucks rumble up and down Judson Rd. and other neighbourhood streets, blocking traffic.

The plant is located across the street from people’s homes on Judson Rd, sits around 200 metres from a 400-unit seniors complex, and is a short walk from the Mimico GO train station.

Renato Silva, owner of ML Ready Mix, said that his company was committed to working with the neighbourhood to find solutions.

He confirmed that his company had recently applied for environment ministry approval.

“We’ve made applications for it,” said Silva. “There is an application in

progress.”

However, when asked if his company had been without ministry approval since 2003, Silva said he did not to remember.

Trainor, who questions if the plant, which started out as a lumber yard, is breaking city zoning bylaws by dealing in concrete so close to a residential area.

She has pulled area Councillor Mark Grimes — Etobicoke-Lakeshore (Ward 6) — into the mix.

Grimes agreed to attend Wednesday’s meeting, but said that from a zoning perspective, there is little the city can do. While the area went through a recent zoning review to prevent more concrete plants from sprouting up, ML Ready Mix falls under a past zoning category which allows it to continue to operate.

Grimes is hoping some kind of understanding can be worked out between ML Ready Mix and the residents living around its plant.

“We’ve got a lot of industrial bumping up against residential,” said Grimes, adding that the problem has become worse since the start of a Metrolinx project close by. “My understanding is while they are applying (for ministry approval), they are allowed to operate ... Let’s get everybody in the same room and see what tools we have to deal with this.”

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Mimico residents fight cement plant

Residents in southeastern Etobicoke want to shut down a concrete plant which is operating steps away from people’s homes, a school and a busy GO Train station.

People in Mimico are complaining that they’re choking on concrete dust, enduring industrial noise and that transport trucks clog their streets.

“What we assumed were nice, quite residential streets that were harmonious with industry, it’s now kind of wrecked that image of the work-life balance in our community,” said Kyra Trainor, of the Mimico Residents Association.

Members of her group will hold a community meeting Wednesday night with municipal and provincial officials to discuss a recent application by the company — ML Ready Mix — to obtain an environmental licence needed to continue to operate.

The group hopes that if the application is denied, it will force the company to cease operations.